Oil treating process to remove impurities



Feb. 15, 1955 c, J EGGER ET AL 2,702,268

OIL TREATING PROCESS TO REMOVE IMPURITIES Original Filed April 27, 1946 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 $3: i; 5 I1 I: I! a I? i2 CONDENSER l L1, '1 I u II I I Q I /5 Q \|lI 34 W E /8 E /8 z P 2/ V Hg 2 INVENTORS. CHARLES JEGGER ROBERT H. WEBSTER Feb. 15, 1955 c. J. EGGER ET AL 011. TREATING PROCESS TO REMOVE IMPURITIES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed April 27, 1946 IN V EN TOR. CHARLES J E6651? ROBERT H. WEBSTER United States Patent OIL TREATING PRGCESS TO REMOVE IMPURITIES Continuation of application Serial N 1946. This application March 22, 216,875

665,412, April 27, 1951, Serial No.

1 Claim. (Cl. 196-75) Our invention relates in general to distillation and more particularly to apparatus and process for separating fluids of divergent boiling points.

This application is a continuation of our application Serial No. 665,412, filed April 27, 1946, now abandoned.

It is a well known fact that when lubricating oils of predominantly petroleum character are used in internal combustion engines, their life of service is dependent on the rate at which contaminants increase relative to the quantity of oil used. These contaminants may be introduced extraneously or may occur as products of decomposition or of chemical change in the oil itself. Petroleum oils are generally comparatively stable, as means of refining have improved this property, but severe operating conditions may cause oxidation, or thermal decomposition, or both, to occur. The products of such deterioration include carboxylic, acids, alcohols, ketones, esters, and even aldehydes, of varying molecular weights and degrees of chemical activity. Thermal decomposition alone will cause. the formation of hydrocarbons foreign to the original oil, some of which are volatile while others may be of suflicientlyhigh molecular weight as to be waxes or solids; in addition there may be ultimate destruction of some constituents to produce carbon, which persists as a solid in the lubricant, and hydrogen.

Impurities which frequently are introduced extraneously include water, either from the atmosphere or from the combustion of the fuel used, fuel which is not consumed in the, normal operation of the engine or is introduced otherwise, and solid particles such as road dust, metallic plairticles, metallic oxides, carbonaceous matter and the li e.

It will thus be seen that the volatile impurities include the oxidation and thermal decomposition products of comparativelylow molecularweight, unused fuel, and water. Adverse effects have been, shown tobe attributable to each type. Water forms the nucleus around which sludges accumulate, the oxidation products are much more active chemically than the hydrocarbons in that they cause loss of metal in. the critical mechanism by corrosion, and the volatile contaminants of hydrocarbon structure, that is, the fuel andsome thermal decomposition products reduce the viscosity and. other physical properties of the oil, thus affecting the film characteristics and other factors.

In. the case of petroleum oils which are used in the electrical and power industries, the effects'of deterioration in service have long beenknown to cause seriously adverse results in the operation of the equipment and apparatus in which such oils are utilized. The efficiency of hydrocarbon oils for such purposes is dependent almost completely upon the, dielectric properties of these oils, and these qualities are greatly diminished by factors such as the introduction, formation, or incidence of water and of oxidation products. It has been found that the rate of formation of oxidation products is greatly influenced by the presence of water and of atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide, and that when the presence of these agents can be eliminated or held to an exceedingly low proportion, the useful life of these oils can be prolonged for a very considerable period of time, and that corrosion effects in the equipment become practically non-existent.

In a wide range of industrial applications, the useful life of oils is frequently found to be dependent upon the rate at which extraneous impurities are introduced, and consequently upon acritical concentration of these im- 2,702,268 Patented Feb. 15, 1955 ICC? purities. In quenching oils, the rate of heat transfer will be greatly aflected by the presence of a small amount of water; in vacuum pump oils, air compressor o ls, and adsorption oils, the incidence of gases and volatile containinants, either in solution or present as separate phases is unavoidable from the nature of the applications and mechanisms in which the oils are employed, and removal or reduction in the amounts of these contaminants will obviously extend the length of service of such oils.

Some lubricating oils are subjected to the action of gases and volatile liquids even in applications which are totally divorced from the introduction of volatile liquids as fuels, as in internal combustion engines. For example, in the operation of steam turbines, it has been found impossible in practice to prevent the introduction into the lubricating oil of considerable amounts of condensate and gases. Removal of such contaminants will decelerate the rate of formation of oxidation products generally recognized to be undesirable.

Solid impurities can be removed from an oil by filtration, and the higher molecular weight contaminants have not been generally proven to be so greatly deleterious tothe functioning of the lubricant, but in treating contaminated oils it is recognized that the total and efficient removal of the volatile contaminants has not been yet satisfactorily achieved.

Also, in the condensed silk industry and in the fruit juice industry, especially the citrus fruit juice industry it has been well known for some time that the water could be removed from the juices and milk to produce a condensed product having good nutritional properties and improved keeping qualities. However, the classical vacuum pan method of distilling away the water is the most commonly adapted method today, and flash distillation has been slow'to make inroad into the practice of condensing because of many objectional characteristics to flash distillation systems. We have now removed these objectional characteristics and produced a fully satisfactory system superior to other methods used today. Further, in the citrus fruit industry especially, there are many light oils and other products that detract from the flavor of the fruit juice when condensed. Formerly, the oflf taste of condensed fruit juices was contributed mainly to scorching by the high heat method of condensing. We have found that although'the high heat method of condensing does have a highly deleterious'elfect on the taste of the condensed juices because of this scorching, the failure to remove the oil and similar undesirable constituents has contributed largely to the or? taste. Flash distillation was thought to be the logical solution of this problem, but has heretofore failed to find wide-place application because of incomplete removal of these volatile constituents. Although the foregoing substances have been suggested as specific examples which may be treated with our improved process and the preferred embodiment of the apparatus, the process and apparatus is desirable for use with any fluid, mixture of fluids, or solution of gases in liquids, in which there is a divergency of boiling points between the constituents.

In recent years, there has been a rapid development of flash distillation and allied processes for handling easily decomposable fluids in distillation and separation. Processes, and equipment for carrying out the processes, have been developed in recent years for such purposes as recovering of by-product organic compound; cleaning and recovery of used and contaminated oils such as lubricating and rolling oils; separating more volatile constituents from the less volatile constituents in a conglomerate mixture of fluids; and the dehydrating and' degasifying fluids. Many of these processes and the equipment for the processes, have operated with only a part of the system employing the flash distillation principle, while others were directed almost in their entirety to the flash distillation principle. Further, although at first analysis they may appear quite similar, two widely divergent principles are followed in operating various types of flash distillation equipment. First of these, is the process which attempts to vaporize all but the extremely high boiling point constituents and solids. This process attemptsto turn all of the fluids entering the still into gases for subsequent selective condensation. In this type of equip-- ment and process, the gases leaving the still are generally strained through a scrubbing medium of loose materials in order to retain any entrained solid matter and unvaporized heavy liquid material. The second method, is to apply only enough heat to vaporize unwanted constituents and permit the remaining constituents to be removed from the still as a liquid.

It is the second mode of operation to which our invention relates. In the past, many attempts have been made to separate fluids of widely divergent boiling points by pumping them at a high pressure into a low pressure zone and atomizing the fluids in'order that a maximum amount of surface area might be presented to the influence of the low pressure zone, and thereby throw the more volatile constituents into the gaseous phase and thus be removed from the higher boiling point constituents. However, it was always found that a considerable percentage of the material desired to be separated out was always found in the finished product when using the standard equipment for this process.

After considerable study and development, we have discovered that the weakness of the present known methods has been the failure to recognize the need for sun.- plying the extremely large amount f sensible heat absorbed by liquid materials when volatilized and expanded.

The heat absorbed by thevolatilization is known techni-- cally as the heat of vaporization. We have found. that the amount of heat abs rbed by the constituents being volatilized is so great that the temperature within the still was oftentimes reduced to a temperature insu icient to cause vol tilization of the incomin impurities. Therefore. these im urities remain with the treated materials leavin the still. Further. it has been found th t after atnmizing the contaminated or mixed con lomeration of fluids a complete separation has not been accomplished by the time the spray is recollected. and therefore requires a longer ex osure to the reduced pressure of the still. However, while bein further exposed to the reduced pressure area, the fluids must be maintained at a hi h temperature level in order to continue to supply the l tent heat of vaporization required for the remaining volatile constituents. That is. if the atomized fluids are allowed to contact a cold surface, or return over co d surfaces to a sump for collection, the volatile constituents have no chance to volati ize and therefore remain with the treated .materials. We have found that in order to effect a com lete and satisfactory separation of these volatile materials from the less volatile materials. the distillation zone into which the m terials are atomized. must be maintained at substantially the sametemperature level at all times. andthe walls of the chamber, and other surfaces which the fluids mi ht strike or touch. must also be maintained at substantially the same constant temperature.

Also, we have discovered that in separating volatile constituents, a tyne of apparatus is required that will permit the vaporized portion to be carried a ay. and not accumulate in dead pockets ithin the still. That is, if a dead pocket of theyolatilized portion were to collect, and the atomized spray of incoming materi ls passed therethrou h, the atmos here s rrounding the spray would be saturated, and the volatile constituents would remain as liquid to carry otf with the liquid portion. This action is akin to hum n perspiration on rainy davs as compared to dry days. Our improved apparatus affprds complete and quick removal of volatilized materra s. e

Therefore, an obiect of our invention is to provide a process for a substantially complete separation of more volatile fluid from a conglomeration of fluids having diver ent boiling points.

Another obiect of our invention, is to remove volatile components of a conglomeration of fluids by flash distilling the conglomeration in the form of finely dispersed particles into chamber maintained at a subatmospheric pressure, and supplying heat of vaporization and thermoenergy of expansion by direct heat to the vaporization area of thechamber in which the expansion is carried out.

Another object of our invention is to provide a chamber and means for evacuating the chamber to a subatmospheric pressure, and to provide a spray zone in the chamber with upper and side wall portions toward which thespray is'directed, and further provide an outer globules.

vessel to surround at least the said upper and side wall portions, and providing a heated gaseous or liquid fluid to fill the space between the chamber wall and the outer vessel to heat and maintain the chamber walls surrounding the spray zone.

Still another object of our invention is to provide a vaporization chamber having chamber walls sealed vacuum tight enclosing a heated top area and a sump area, with the sump area of the chamber being out of the heated area of the chamber to collect liquid therein and further expose the liquid to the low pressure Within the chamber without adding heat energy to the liquid.

And another object of our invention is to separate components of a conglomeration into liquid and gaseous phases by distillation under vacuum within a chamber, wherein the chamber is heated in its upper region to supply the necessary heat of vaporization to volatilize some components of the conglomeration, and the lower sump area is unheated to collect the remaining liquid phase under high vacuum conditions, but Without the addition of further heat.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of our invention may be had by referring to the following description and claim, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a cross-sectional view of an apparatus embodying thefeatures of our invention and capable of carrying out our process;

Figure 2 is a modification of Figure l, in that a gaseous heating medium is provided;

Figure 3 is a further modification wherein an external heater is provided for independently heating the conglomeration of fluid being sprayed into the apparatus separate from the heating of the chamber; and

Figure 4 is similar to the apparatus of Figure 3, but is provided with a gaseous heating medium to surround the inner chamber.

To achieve separation of volatile constituents from a conglomeration of fluids having varying degrees of volatility, it is necessary to use some convenient form of distillation, and all known methods of re-refining oils and condensing of fruit juices and other conglomerations contemplate the use of this type of physical action. Many means have been devised to accomplish this separation.

to accomplish final removal of the last traces of the vola-' tile material to be separated out from the body of the conglomeration, thermo energy is applied at an increasing rate. While this is being done, conditions exist in the body of the conglomeration frequently favorable to break down some of the normal constituents, with formation of additional products of lower molecular weight, and consequently of lower boiling point, usually suflicient in degree and amount to cause them also to be classified as volatile constituents to be removed. Before a completely desirable result is achieved, it is frequently found that the final yield of the desirable end products free from the constituents to be volatilized has been unsatisfactory from an economical standpoint. If the distillation be not carried on with this degree of thoroughness, in the case of contaminated oils for example, the presence of constant boiling mixtures will frequently cause the final product to be considered not totally satisfactory in regard to flash point, the characteristics most usually employed in evaluating the freedom or otherwise of an oil from low boiling components. If, however, a comparatively small amount of oil, or citrus and other fruit juices, or milk, or other conglomerate fluid, .be subjected to a distillation process as described at sub-atmospheric pressure, and if this quantity be extended to present the greatest possible surface to this action, it is found that the removal of undesirable low boiling constituents is achieved with a degree of completeness not previously possible, and in a period of time which does not permit any observable degradation of the remaining components. In order. to present a maximum surface, it is necessary to either present a continuous film of negligible thickness, or to disperse the conglomeration in exceedingly fine The existence of either of these forms must persist for a period of time suflicient to assure the re 'to e be volatilized willapproach completeness.

.5 movalin vapor formof the. constituents to be volatilized. Fromthe standpoint of controlofoperating-conditions, it has been found to be,more satisfactory. to.present globularparticles to the combinedactionof heat:and reducedpressure than to extend a continuous film, only onesurface of whichcan be presented tothesub-atmospheric pressure and. spaces.

. One of.the features ofour-invention is the-provision of heat for the walls of the chamberindependently: of the heating of the conglomeration tobe treated. We have found by experiment, that when: a heated .conglomeration issprayed into-a chamber at sub-atmospheric pressure the Walls of which are free tothe atmosphere, and consequently maintained, at substantially atmospheric temperature, vaporization of the volatile components will occur to a very appreciable extent, and ifthe fluid is firstraised to a temperature sufiicientlyhigh to assure enough heat energy forexpansion of the conglomeration and latent heat ofvaporization of the constituents to be volatilized, it is entirely possible that removal of the constituents If, however, the vaporized constituents have-occasion to come in contact with the walls of the vessel, which are at a much lowertemperature, condensation occurs on the walls to anappreciable extent, and the condensed volatile contaminants will flow down the sides of the vessel and combinewith thedesirable end products which'have been free from the volatilized constituents by the fractional spray nozzles and baffle means might be employed while still staying entirely within the spirit and scope of this invention. Thus, throughout the disclosure and claims we indicate that the conglomeration should be sprayed in the form of small discrete particles toward the top and upper side walls of the chamber. Although in some instances it isdesirable to provide an inner evacuated chamber which will be completely surrounded by aheating medium, as shown in our Patent No. 2,451,668, We

have found that in many instances it is desirable to provide a chamber which extends to the atmosphere at the bottom in order to provide a sump 50 which is not supplied with heat, to hold the treated material.

We have found that by maintaining the walls in the chamber in the area of the spray and. evaporatiomthat is at the top and upper side portions of the chamber, at an elevated temperature, we. have contributed substantially to the efliciency of the process. We have found that the walls of the chamber should be maintained substantially equal to, or slightly above,.the temperature of the conglomeration of fluid at the point of. introduction into the chamber. By maintaining the Walls at a temperature as just described, we have. fulfilled two. conditions necessary for successful operation. In the first place, for successful operation, theremust be no flow of heat from the conglomeration, or from the vaporized volatile portion to the wall. To allow such flow of heat would result in condensation of the volatilized portion withthe result that the volatilized portion would be returned to the treated material. Secondly, because a large amount of heat is required to supply energy for expansion of the conglomeration within the chamber and to supply the latent heat of vaporization for the removal of the volatile portion, supplying additional heat to the walls of the chamber to the conglomeration in the region of the spray zone reduces need for heating the original conglomeration to an unduly high temperature in an effort to supply the heat directly to the conglomeration before entering into the chamber, that is, the original conglomeration may be heated to a safe temperature limit before being spray atomized into the chamber, and the additional heat required for the expansion and vaporization is readily supplied through the walls of the chamber as it is required.

Our invention comprehends the application of theprinciples explained in the manner which is eflicient and economical. The preferred apparatus employed 'is shown inthe drawings and the process will be understood when reference is made to them while the operation-isexplained.

I'ZASEWHL bezseengaapparatus forzcarrying:outonetembodimenttofizour processswherein-cthe:fluid preheat. and the fer liquid T17. rnay be heated imanyrsuitable manner and,

as illustrated, we provide for heating the liquid byaneans of: electric t heaters; 18 suitably energized from :a source of electrical energy. The chamber 12 is imaintained .sat sub-atmospheric pressure. by, means; of; a vacuum ,1 pump 19. As illustrated,zawcondenser :20.is: connectedbetween the chamber 12;and the.vaclmmxpumpiliiniorderzsto condense the volatile contaminatsawhichgare,-carried::off by the action of the vacuum pump-19.

The fluid in;passin g :through :the;: series Of: coils rlS is heated by the heat transferi liquid before being introduced into the chamber 12. The heattransferyliquidl7 ingcarrying, out-one embodiment of,our:process,;,alsozheatsjthe walls 14 of the ;chamber'12 .at a temperature substantially at least. asi-highz as the temperatureiof the .fluid which: is 7 introduced intoithefihamber, 12;,in order; to prevent condensation of the vaporized volatile constituents within-the chamber; 12. The constituentof the conglomeration'which remainsZflUid is:removed, from the. sump 50*through a conduit 21.under; the action of' a; pump 22 which, delivers the .treatedfluid to ,.ast0rage vessel 23.

The treated. fluid .isremovedihrough, the conduit. 21' from the chamber 12 at such,a rateqthat no great accumulation -10f fluid is present. at; any time :in the: sump :50. .:to

decrease .its-,.eflective ,space ;or capacity- :Actually'the rate of removal is: substantially 3 the; same; ;as, the rate of introduction. of I fluid intolthe, chamber, but; before .with- .uct;is obtained which is equivalentto the originalaoil in all physical respects, showing complete removal of-fall volatile contaminants, andthis resultis-obtained at temperatures very substantiallylower than those which are necessary when batch vacuum distillationis ,used and which are below the critical temperatures'for thermal idecomposition. Thus, we have-found-that diluents which had been introduced into aircraft engine oilsin service to the extent of approximately-six per cent ofthe total volume, and which consisted ,;of volatile hydrocarbons,

such as are present in gasoline, together with, some low molecular weight oxidation productsand water-were-apparently totally removed by spraying the contaminated oil which had previously been heated to 300- F. into' the distillation chamber, which was maintained at a vacuum of approximately'29.6 inches of mercury as referred to a 30-inch barometer, the walls of the chamber-also being maintained at 300 F.

The flash point ofthe aircraftengine oil was 480 when new and the contaminatedoilcontained-a sufficiently high proportion of very volatile hydrocarbons. that, the flash point was approximately F.,,,and sustained combustion occurred at F. After subjecting the contaminated oil to the process described above, the product had a flash point of 495 F. -Similarly, the viscosity of the contaminated oil was very much lessthan that of the new oil, while the viscosity of the product after treatment was substantially identical with that of the new oil.

Determination of the value for thephysical properties usually accepted'for'evaluation of an oilshowed that after the contaminated oil had been fractionally. distilled by thelprocess which we have. discovered, .the, product .met. the trequirements specifiedfor: new. aircraftoil.

- While these results show that the limiting conditions for removal of volatile contaminants had been met in every case, to extend the results in the general field of oil contamination, particularly petroleum oil contamination, series of tests were made with an electrical oil, specifically a transformer oil, and with an oil used in the heat treatment of steel. g

In the case of the contaminated transformer oil, it was found that the oil before treatment was dark in color, possessed a neutralization value of 0.53 milligram KOH per gram of oil, and a dielectric strength of 7 kilovolts when tested by the standard method of test described by the A. S. T. M. Some sludge was present, and themoisture content was found to be 0.27% by distillation for xylene.

This contaminated oil was subjected to vacuum fractional distillation by the method we have disclosed above, at a temperature of 200 F. and without the use of a sweeping agent. Preliminary to spraying the contaminated oil into the distillation chamber, it was strained to remove solid impurities and aggregations of sludge which would clog the spray nozzle. The oil collected after subjection to this treatment was then analyzed and the neutralization value was found to be 0.21 mg. KOH per gram of oil, the moisture content was nil by the same method of distillation from xylene, and the dielectric strength was 24 kilovolts. In addition, the product was substantially lighter in color than the contaminated oil before treatment. Subsequent filtration may be used, if desired.

The utilization of the process had therefore resulted in the elimination of water and in reduction of the neutralization value of the oil, which can only be ascribed to removal of volatile oxidation products such as carboxylic acids and esters, compounds which are sufficiently active, in a chemical sense, to cause deterioration of the equipment in which they may come in contact. The increase in dielectric strength is likewise ascribed to removal of these volatile contaminants, since it is well known that 'mechanicaldispersions of water and the presence in solution of substances relatively rich in oxygen will materially decrease the efliciency of transformer oils and of hydrocarbon dielectrics in general.

With regard to the oil which was used for the heat treatment of steel, it had been discovered in the commercial application for industrial production, that after a certain degree of contamination had occurred, the rate of heat dissipation had been accelerated to the point where surface hardening or brinelling was prevalent, and persisted to an'extent which either militated against subsequent machine finishing operations, or resulted in the rejection of the steel, because of failure to meet manufacturing specifications.

The rate of heat transfer is analogous to the rate of transfer of electrical energy in that the same contamias unfit for further use in industry. On analysis, it was found to contain a small amount of free water, and the neutralization value was very much higher than that of the oil originally.

This contaminated oil was heated to a temperature of approximately 250 F., and sprayed into the evacuated distillation chamber, the walls of which were maintained at substantially the same temperature as the oil being treated, and the volatile contaminants vaporized and removed in the vapor form. steam was used as a sweeping agent, and it was found that by the use of this sweeping agent, the rate of treatment ,could be increased to some extent without deleteriously affecting. the quality of the treated oil. In all cases, it was possible to produce an oil which possessed 'physical'properties equal to or approximating those demanded in purchase specifications for new oil for the designed application. More significantly, when oil which had been contaminated in service and subsequently subjected to our process as described above was replaced into commercial use, it was found to function in a completely satisfactory manner. While the scientific study of service contamination of quenching oils is not nearly as-complete or thorough as. similar studies made for electrical and lubricating oil deterioration, a broad survey In some of the experiments,

of the results so far available shows that the progressive formation or incidence of volatile oxidation products and of water, and of extraneously introduced contaminants or catalysts for the production of contaminating products result in a parallel deterioration, affecting the quality of the metal products treated therein, and that a limit of usefulness is reached in a sufliciently short period of time. Interruption of production and cost of replacement therefore contribute a substantial portion of production costs for the metal products which have to be subjected to this treatment. When means for treating suchoils by our process are provided in conjunction with the heat treating bath, the life of the heat transfer medium has been prolonged to a period exceeding several times that of mediums used in identical applications but where the treatment has not been made available.

It may therefore be stated that in commercial applications of hydrocarbon oils of predominantly petroleum origin, the useful life of such oils varies directly with the rate of accumulation of service contaminants, and that a serious proportion of these contaminants are products of oxidation or thermal decomposition which are substantially more volatile than the hydrocarbon from which they are derived, together with Water formed as a product of decomposition or otherwise introduced. If these volatile contaminants are removed totally or are kept below a predetermined critical concentration, dependent upon the application, the useful life of these. oils may be prolonged to an extent which will greatly affect the economic operation of the equipment in which they are employed, and in addition will reduce substantially the degree to which deterioration products may adversely atfect the materials of which the equipment is compounded. The process and apparatus we have disclosed provide a convenient and efficient means for accomplishing the removal of such volatile deleterious agents and are capable of incorporation in a wide variety of useful commercial applications.

Many of the oils, as well as some of the fruit juices and the milk, were found to have gaseous materials occluded therein, but no longer dissolved or chemically afiiliated. To complete separation in these materials, and yet not cause deterioration by a prolonged exposure of the liquid phase to heat, the sump 50 was provided.

The liquid material maybe collected for a period of time in the sump 50 to allow the bubbles to seep out of the liquid, but no further heating is applied. The time which the liquid remains in thesump 50 is quite short, a minute or two, but is extremely long in comparison to the time it would be in the vacuum chamber if removed irnmediately after accumulated..

Nor is it satisfactory to attempt to pump the treated liquid to a separate vacuum storage tank, for such pumping necessarily means a raise in pressure, which pressure increase may again incorporate the bubbles into the treated liquid.

In the Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings, we illustrate amodification of our apparatus for carrying out our improved process. In this embodiment, we have dispensed with the coils 15 to preheat" the conglomeration before it is introduced into the chamber 30, and have substituted external heating means. The chamber walls 14 and top 31 are independently heated from a heat transfer medium as previously described. Thus, we are able to obtain a finer degree of control over the preheating temperature of the conglomeration, and the amount of heat supplied to the chamber walls to the spray zone. That is, a low preheat may be desirable in some fluids, and a high degree of heat supplied to the chamber walls to supply the heat of vaporization and expansion. On the other hand, it may be desirable to provide a greater amount of heat directly to the conglomeration by preheating. and furnishing only enough heat to the chamber walls to maintain the chamber walls at the elevated temperature or to supply a relatively small amount of heat therethrough to the spray zone. In any event, the requisite for carrying out our process in this embodiment of the apparatus is to employ a means of supplying the conglomeration from a supply tank 10 to a supply line 43. The conglomeration is preheated by passing through a heat exchanger 44'and is placed under a relatively high pressure by a pump 11.

The conglomeration then progresses to a heater 45 which may be conveniently heated by electrical heating elements of any suitable design, or by steam or other suitable devices if desired. The conglomeration is then introduced into the evacuated chamber 30 by spray atomizing the same through the spray nozzle 13 whereby it is dispersed into exceedingly fine globular particles progccted into the spray zone enclosed by the chamber Walls 14 and top 31. The chamber 30 is maintained at subatmospheric pressure by means of the vacuum pump 19. The treated components are removed from the chamber 30 through a conduit 21 and pass through the heat exchanger 44 where the sensible heat contained therein is transferred to a certain extent to the incoming conglomeration as previously described.

In this illustrated embodiment of our invention, we have illustrated a container 32 as surrounding the top and side portion of the chamber 3%, but we have provided for the sump 50 of the chamber 30 to extend from the container 32 and be exposed to the atmosphere. Thereby, the treated liquid gathering in the sump 50 prior to being removed therefrom, will not be exposed to continued heating from the heated medium within the space 33. This feature is particularly desirable when treating fruit juices, milk, or other easily disintegrated material. Therefore, the action of the heating, spray atomizing, volatilization, and recondensation is over so quickly that the treated material will not experience a change of composition to affect the taste, color or desirable properties easily affected by prolonged exposure to elevated temperature. The atomized material is indicated by the reference character 34 and is so directed by the spray nozzle 13 that it impinges against a fluid surface exposing device 35 where the atomized material is collected as a thin film and is outwardly dispersed to collect and drip to the bottom sump 50 of the chamber 30 at a radial distance from the spray nozzle 13.

The treated components are removed from the chamber 30 through a conduit 21 and may be passed through suitable heat exchangers if desired to transfer the physical heat contained therein to a certain extent to the incoming conglomeration. The treated materials may be maintained at a constant level in the sump or bottom portion of the chamber by means of constant level devices or by the rate of, pumping from the chamber. Thus, the treated material may be exposed for a further period of time to the low pressure of the chamber, but will be in contact with the unheated bottom portion of the chamber. No accumulation is permitted beyond the bottom sump region of the chamber 30, whereby the effective space or capacity of the chamber would be decreased. The process may be carried out continuously without interruption, and tests show that process and equipment afiords substantially a complete separation as desired.

Basically, throughout all our steps of treatment, our process remains the same. The apparatus which we have shown and described are convenient and preferred form; of apparatus, but are all designed to carry out the basic process step. Briefly, this process comprises the steps of heating the fluid to be treated at a predetermined pressure, to a temperature which is above the temperature that would cause boiling of the highest boiling point corstituent to be removed at a pressure less than said predetermined pressure. That is, the conglomeration of fluid comprising at least two constituents having divergent boiling points, are heated before entering into the spray chamber. The temperature to which the conglomeraticn is heated is determined by the degree of vacuum within the spray chamber. Therefore, the conglomeration is heated to a temperature at least equal to, but preferably slightly above, the temperature that would cause the constituent to be removed to boil if that constituent were placed in the reduced pressure of the spray chamber. Thereafter, the heated conglomeration is spray atomized in the form of exceedingly fine globular particles into the high vacuum spray zone. At this point in the process, an instantly available supply of heat energy is required in the region of the spray zone to furnish at least a portion of the heat of vaporization of the volatile constituents and to maintain the spray zone at the temperature described as that temperature which would cause boiling of the highest boiling point constituent to be removed. This instantly available supply of heat energy must be available in the region of the spray zone.

The process and apparatus described herein has not been limited to any specific fluid or conglomeration of fluids, because we have found that the device and process is equally successful with a large number of various fluids. For example, this process and equipment has been used successfully for restoring various contaminated oils such as heat transfer oil used for quenching purposes in hardening of steel, electrical insulating oil, engine oil, lubricating oil for vacuum pumps and the like, refrigerator lubricating oils, for degasifying beverage waters, and for degasifying and dehydrating various fluids. That is, the process and equipment is equally successful for removing undesirable constituents, for dehydrating, and for degasifying. Also, it has been found that each fluid treated requires a difierent temperature, pressure, and vacuum. Thus, whereas one fluid may require a relatively high preheat temperature, another fluid may actually require refrigeration before being atomized within the expansion chamber. In all cases, however, the walls of the expansion chambers are easily adjusted in temperature to maintain them at exactly the proper temperature to conduct sensible heat therethrough to maintain the interior of the chamber at exactly the desirable degree of temperature while in operation, but the sump 50 remains cool.

Although we have described our invention with a certain degree of particularity in its preferred form, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

The process of treating oil to remove constituents thereof by volatilization, comprising the steps of heating the oil at a predetermined pressure, to a temperature which is above the temperature at which the highest boiling point constituent to be removed would boil under a pressure less than said predetermined pressure, thereafter spray atomizing said oil in the form of exceedingly fine globular particles into a spray area defined by a chamber having walls sealed vacuum tight, simultaneously withdrawing gases from said chamber to reduce the pressure within the chamber to a value which will cause the highest boiling point constituent to boil at the temperature to which it has been heated, and also remove the volatilized constituents of the oil, and also simultaneously with said spray atomizing providing an instantly available supply of thermal energy by radiation into said spray area to furnish at least a portion of the heat of vaporization of said constituents to be volatilized and maintain said spray area at a temperature at least equal to the boiling point, at the reduced pressure, of the highest boiling point constituent to be removed and control the volatilization thereof and maintain other constituents of higher boiling points as a liquid, collecting said liquid constituents in a sump area under the influence of the high degree of vacuum but out of said heated spray area for a period of time which is extended in comparison to the time required to atomize and recollect the material, and removing the said liquid constituents which remain liquid from the sump.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Egger et al. Oct. 19, 1948 

